This invention includes a hitch ball coupler for a trailer that is connected to a ball hitch of a towing vehicle. More particularly, the invention includes a trailer hitch coupler for connection to the ball of a ball hitch of a towing vehicle, with the coupler having retractable safety cables that can retract when the trailer is not connected to the towing vehicle.
This invention involves a hitch ball coupler of a trailer that is to be connected to the ball hitch of a towing vehicle. Prior art trailers typically include a hitch ball coupler that couples directly to the ball hitch of the towing vehicle and a pair of safety chains or cables that extend from the trailer to the ball hitch or to the vehicle itself. The purpose of the safety chains is to make sure that the trailer does not accidentally separate from the towing vehicle in the event of the separation of the hitch ball coupler from the ball hitch of the towing vehicle.
The safety chains and cables are considered by most people to be obnoxious and unsightly, although they are necessary for safety purposes. The chains tend to droop from the trailer toward the towing vehicle when the trailer is mounted to the towing vehicle, or droop from the trailer to the ground when the trailer is disconnected from the towing vehicle.
In addition to the unsightliness, when the trailer is moved away from the towing vehicle, the safety chains that are not connected to the ball hitch have the hazard of dragging on the ground, or obstructing the movement of personnel or equipment about the trailer tongue.
It is to these problems that this invention is devoted.
Briefly described, the present invention comprises a hitch ball coupler assembly for a trailer that is to be connected to a ball hitch of a towing vehicle, whereby the conventional safety chains or cables of the coupler are replaced with retractable safety cables that can be distended for connection to the ball hitch and retracted for compact and visually pleasing storage. The coupler assembly includes a pair of retractable cable assemblies, each including a housing and a cable and a spring supported in the housing. Each housing has an opening that is adjacent the ball coupler. The cable has its proximal end received in its housing and its distal end configured to connect to the ball hitch. The spring is also mounted to the housing that is operatively connected to the proximal end of the cable for biasing the cable into the housing.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the housing of each retractable cable assembly comprises a rectilinear tube, and the spring is a compression spring that is mounted in the tube with one of its ends anchored within the tube. The other end of the spring is connected to the proximal end of the cable, and as the cable is withdrawn from the tube, the spring compresses to bias the cable back into the tube.
The retractable cable assemblies are neat and streamlined in appearance, and are inexpensive to construct.
The hitch ball coupler typically includes an elongated cover that is U-shaped in cross section with a base wall and opposed parallel sidewalls for extending about the draw bar of a trailer. The tubular housings of the retractable cable assemblies are formed at the edge portions of the U-shaped cover, so that the cover and the tubular housings are made of one piece of material.
The dimensions of each tubular housing are formed so that the spring inserted therein is a coil compression spring, with one end of the spring anchored to the housing and the other end of the spring being slidably movable along the interior of the tubular housing. The proximal end of the cable is telescopically threaded through the anchored end of the coil compression spring, reaching the free end of the spring, with a cable/spring connector connecting the proximal end of the cable and the free end of the spring. With this arrangement, when the cable is pulled out of the tubular housing, the cable tends to compress the spring, while the spring tends to bias the cable to its return position.
Because of the continuous bias of the cable into the tubular housing, there will normally be no slack in the cable as it extends from the tubular housing to the ball hitch. Also, as the trailer and towing vehicle pivot, as when the trailer is being driven around a curve or being moved rearwardly at an angle with respect to the towing vehicle, the springs will allow more or less of the cable to extend from the tubular housings so as to compensate for the greater or shorter distances created between the tubular housings and the point of connection of the cable to the ball hitch.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved hitch ball coupler for a draw bar of a trailer or other towed vehicle, for connection to the ball hitch of a towing vehicle, whereby safety cables are provided that distend and retract in response to being connected to or disconnected from the ball hitch of the towing vehicle.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved trailer hitch cover formed of a single piece of material, which includes a pair of tubular housings for mounting retractable safety cables that extend from the cover to the ball hitch of a towing vehicle.
Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.